BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Gay bar owner and novelist Alex Andronic fears a referendum this weekend in Romania that aims to prevent same sex couples ever securing the right to marry not only darkens his future, it will also stir an intolerable level of hate and discrimination.

Romania does not allow marriage or civil partnerships for same sex couples. Nonetheless, the country will vote on whether to narrow the constitutional definition of marriage from a union of spouses to one between a man and a woman.

The referendum, which needs a 30 percent turnout rate was brought by a civil society group called the Coalition for the Family, which said the gender-neutral term “spouse” could see gay couples win the right to marry in the future.